Chapter 17
"So you're the one? The human who fed my daughter that strange stuff."
A young woman wearing a crown.
Iris's mother spoke to me.
I broke into a rambling string of excuses, sweating bullets.
"I-it wasn't anything weird...! It's, uh... Damn, how do I put this...?"
"The longer you go on, the more it sounds like you did."
"......"
The Elf Queen had hit the nail on the head, so I gave up and answered her.
"Yeah... I fed it to her..."
It was the kind of line that practically called for some dramatic "Woooo~" music in the background.
Then I lowered my eyes and started acting pitiful.
"B-but I had no choice...!! That elf stole the medicine I made and ate it first...!!"
"Oh? Is that truly what happened?"
"Yes...!! I barely survived a Ferum Flower and used its sap to make medicine for my sick mother... Then that wicked elf suddenly appeared and took it..."
"You stole a human's medicine for such a paltry reason, Iris?"
The lie flowed smoothly from my lips, and Iris, standing beside me, protested with a betrayed look on her face.
"I-it's a misunderstanding...! I never did that..."
"I'm disappointed in you, Iris. To steal medicine meant for a sick human's mother just for your own pleasure... How are you any different from a beast?"
"L-Lady A-yeon!! Please say something!! Mother's got the wrong idea...!!"
The Elf Queen looked at Iris with disdain, while Iris pleaded with me to explain, on the verge of tears.
Just as I was about to tell the Elf Queen that the whole thing was an elaborate prank, a familiar chime rang and a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
Ding!
[ A linked quest has appeared! ]
[ Proceeding with the linked quest will send you directly to Floor 5, where you can continue with the next quest. ]
[ Main Quest (Linked) ]
- Earn the trust of Sylvia, the Elf Queen.
- Reward: Floor 6 Entry Ticket, Skill Enhancement Ticket x1, ???
So the queen's name was Sylvia.
Unlike Iris, she had a name that actually sounded elven.
But more importantly...
'...A linked quest?'
This was the first I'd heard of anything like it.
I get sent straight to the next floor?
The Tower had a system like that...?
"M-Mom...!!"
"How strange... I don't recall ever having a beast cub for a child."
"Y-Your Majesty...?"
"That doesn't mean you should go and become as stupid as a real beast."
"......"
Unable to hold back my curiosity, I took a picture of the quest window and posted it to the Gallery, leaving Iris and her mother's banter behind.
[ Are ISTPs usually bad at getting pregnant? ㅠㅠ ]
[ Posted by: 39.7 ]
< Photo of the linked quest notification and the elf mother and daughter behind it >
What's this?
This notification just popped up out of nowhere, saying something about a linked quest.
- Anonymous Climber: This bastard's finally here;;
- Anonymous Climber: Linked quest? What's that? First time I've seen one.
- Anonymous Climber: Fuck, that title's bait
- Great Mage: That elf in the back, though...
└ Anonymous Climber: Booooobs lmao
└ Anonymous Climber: That body... hooooly shit
└ Saintess: Fuck, please stop...
- Save the Newbies: Looks like you took down that fused Sludge, at least
└ (OP) 39.7: Yeah, thanks
└ Save the Newbies: Congrats on the clear
Maybe because I'd just posted about the fused Black Sludge, the comments were coming in faster than usual.
Then, amid the comments shamelessly praising the elf mother and daughter's bodies, a familiar regular showed up.
- If a Cow Burns, Carbon: Ah, haven't seen one of those in a while
└ (OP) 39.7: Do you know what that is?
└ If a Cow Burns, Carbon: Yeah, it's exactly what it sounds like—a linked quest
└ If a Cow Burns, Carbon: You clear floors back to back, like a karaoke medley
A karaoke medley, huh.
It sounded like an old person's comparison, but I got the gist of it.
└ If a Cow Burns, Carbon: The rewards are a little better if you clear them consecutively
└ If a Cow Burns, Carbon: They show up pretty often on Insane... no idea about the other difficulties
└ (OP) 39.7: Oh, gotcha
└ Air Raid Alert: T-they show up sometimes on Expert, too...
└ Magic Princess: They show up on higher floors in Hard, too☆
└ Anonymous Climber: That username's a lot to take in, fuck;;
A bunch of familiar faces had shown up, but at least I'd figured out the gist.
So I was in the middle of a main-story quest?
I could stop midway, but if I kept the combo going, I'd get a bonus.
Ding!
[ Would you like to proceed with the linked quest? ]
[ Yes ] [ No ]
With the choice appearing before me just then, I thought for a moment before selecting 'Yes.'
There wasn't anything I could do if I went home right now, anyway.
And why would I turn down extra rewards?
Freebies are always serious business.
"Let's continue this conversation back in the village."
The moment I chose, the Elf Queen finished arguing with Iris and turned to me.
Wooooong──
"Ugh...?!"
At the same time, my vision shook, and the scenery around me gradually began to warp.
[ Entering Floor 5. ]
[ Loading... ]
[ ...... ]
[ ... ]
*
*
*
Wooooong──
Once again, I felt my brain being rattled around.
I came to a beat later and groaned, pressing a hand to my furrowed brow as a headache washed over me.
"Ugh... my head..."
At my reaction, the familiar voice of an elf came from beside me.
"What's wrong all of a sudden? Are you feeling sick?"
Iris asked, her eyes wide.
When I came to my senses, I found myself traveling somewhere with the elves.
Judging by the quest, we must have arrived at the elven village.
My head still hurt, so I gave her a vague answer.
"I-I'm fine... Just a little motion sick."
"Well... if you go flying around like that every time you fight, of course you'll get motion sick."
"......"
I let her explanation go in one ear and out the other, and looked around at the scenery.
Buildings hung like beehives from towering trees.
Suspension bridges made of planks and vines connected them.
There, woodpecker-like holes and terrace-shaped branches formed yet more buildings.
The landscape was completely different from the forests I'd seen so far.
I could only gape and let out a string of awestruck exclamations.
"W-wow..."
"Hehe. What do you think? Have you fallen for the majestic splendor of the elven village?"
"No... that's not it..."
It really was a pretty impressive village.
It looked like something you'd see in the cinematic trailer for a big-budget RPG.
But...
There was one thing that bothered me...
Inhale, exhale...
The sky was hazy.
A little...
No, quite a lot.
Actually, it was just fucking hazy.
You know that cloud of passion that forms when you go to an otaku convention?
The entire forest was fogged over almost that badly.
What the fuck was this, the London smog...?
Why were all the elves using White Blow?
[ You have inhaled a drug. ]
[ Addiction rate has reached its maximum, so it will not increase. ]
"......"
I dismissed the status window that had appeared in the corner of my vision and asked Iris:
"Um... Iris?"
"Yes?"
"That stuff those elves are smoking over there..."
"It's a World Tree leaf. I gave you one before, remember?"
"...I knew it."
Crazy drug-addict race.
The entire race was smoking weed.
Iris suddenly seemed a little normal by comparison.
Sniff, sniff.
"Hehehe... It smells so good..."
"......"
...Maybe she wasn't quite that normal, after all.
Step, step.
How long had I been walking with the elves?
The closer we got to the center of the village, the thinner the smog hanging in the air became.
Sunlight gradually began filtering through the ceiling of leaves above us, too.
Then the forest opened up, revealing the sky above, and the enormous World Tree gradually came into view.
"...Wow."
This time, even I couldn't help but be genuinely impressed.
A colossal tree rose straight up into the sky for hundreds of meters.
Its trunk was about as thick as a soccer stadium, and it looked like even three fifty-story apartment buildings stacked together wouldn't reach its top.
It was a magnificent sight of nature that made even America's towering skyscrapers look ordinary.
...Except it wasn't moving enough to bring tears to my eyes or anything.
If that tree hadn't been one enormous medicinal herb, I might've been a little more impressed.
Then we entered a huge knothole in one of the World Tree's roots, and a vast space like a throne room opened up before us.
The Elf Queen sat in a large chair at the far end and spoke to me.
"So."
The snow-white woman sat on her throne, a crown upon her head.
Her eyes were so cold they seemed sharp as they looked down at me.
Feeling an inexplicable chill, I swallowed nervously and looked up at the queen before me.
The queen, Sylvia, continued:
"I heard the whole story on the way here. You played quite a nasty little prank, didn't you?"
"Haha... Well..."
"Never mind. Knowing Iris, she was probably at least partly at fault. She's my daughter, but... she's hardly the most reliable girl."
At her words, Iris flailed about as if she wanted to say something, but an elf beside her quickly grabbed her and clamped her mouth shut.
That elf was probably Iris's personal secretary or maid, or something like that.
I could easily imagine how much trouble she dealt with on a daily basis, and felt sorry for her.
Sylvia continued speaking.
"I saw you put down the refuse in the forest."
"Refuse? You mean the Black Sludge?"
"Yes. Is that what they're called these days? Born from filth, drawn to the World Tree's mana, they are like insects that gnaw away at the forest."
That was news to me.
I thought they were just Floor 5 bosses that appeared in the Tower.
The setting was more fleshed out than I'd expected.
"As you know, most elves are sensitive to demonic energy. Most are reluctant even to approach it... So you have no idea how grateful I am that you happened to exterminate them."
"Right, Mother? Lady A-yeon is amazing!"
"Of course, that doesn't mean we can overlook your raising those 'child-bewitching flowers.'"
"......"
Iris drooped her head, dispirited after being scolded by her mother.
Sylvia spoke to me again.
"So, I have a fine proposal for you."
Now we were getting to the main point.
I pulled my mind back from the goofy daze I'd let it slip into for a moment.
"Would you be willing to exterminate the refuse in the forest?"
Ding!
A quest window appeared before me with a timely notification.
But Sylvia didn't stop there. She continued speaking.
"If you would only exterminate the most troublesome one of them, 'the biggest one'... I will make sure your reward is more than satisfactory."
[ Main Quest (Linked) ]
- Defeat the Black Sludge and earn the trust of Sylvia, the Elf Queen.
- (Optional) Defeat the Sludge Blob. (0/1)
- Reward: Floor 6 Entry Ticket, Skill Enhancement Ticket x1, ???
The biggest one.
I didn't know what that meant yet, but at Sylvia's next words, I answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Well, if you like, I could even give you a branch of the World Tree..."
"Sure, I'll give it a shot."
A branch of the World Tree.
I didn't know exactly what it was, but it had to be incredible.
If a leaf was an S-rank item, wouldn't a branch be at least S-rank, too?
It had to be A-rank at the very least.
'Of course, I can't use it to grind traits anymore, since I already ate a leaf...'
S-rank items were so rare among Awakened that you could name your price.
And if it had 'World Tree' in the name, mages would go absolutely wild for it.
There was no way I could turn down that offer.
- (Optional) Defeat the Sludge Blob. (0/1)
"...But what exactly is the biggest one?"
But the quest's objective started to worry me, and I asked Sylvia in a slightly timid voice.
Sludge Blob?
I didn't know what it was, but maybe it was an advanced version of the Black Sludge?
She'd said 'the biggest one,' so maybe it was a monster the size of a house...
"Seeing is believing. Better to take a look than have me tire my voice explaining it."
In response to my question, Sylvia brightened and rose from her seat.
"Come along. I'll show you the biggest piece of filth in the forest."
"Uh..."
Why was she so happy...?
Ugh... Something about this made me uneasy...
*
*
*
A little while later.
Gurgle, rumble──
"That's the one."
"......"
I was facing a mass of filth the size of an apartment building.
"......"
"What is it?"
"...C-can't I just not do it?"
"Are you planning to take back a promise you have already made?"
"Take... it back."
"......"
Sylvia gave me a chilly look.
I did my best to avoid her eyes and looked at the enormous mass of slime before me.
Grrr, bluuuuuurgh...
"......"
I really wanted to make a pantsless getaway.
Seriously.